A Run Through the Woods
by Tippy.LaRoux
Summary: Hermione is alone and the Snatchers found her. Warning for violence.


Written for Hogwarts- Challenges Assignments  
[House: Ravenclaw  
[Subject/Task No.: Herbology Task 3 - write about someone being strangled

Warning for violence

Run. All I can do is run. My feet slip along the uneven ground of the forest floor. Why didn't I put my boots next to my bed like I always do? I only had time to slip on trainers before I dashed out of the back door of the cabin. I need to find a game trail to run down. Blindly dashing through the woods is too loud. I know they can hear the debris breaking under my feet, the branches that brush past my body, and the twigs that break off after being tangled in my hair.

How did they find me? I haven't been out of the cabin for nine days. Nine excruciatingly long days spent reading and rereading every book and periodical left in the cabin by its previous occupants. I played solitaire with a deck of mismatched cards. I even started making a list of things I would do once I left the confines of the wooden cell I forced myself into. Running for my life from the Snatchers was not one of them.

I hear a shout as they close in on me. A curse is hurtled towards me, narrowly missing its mark. I need to get onto softer ground. Quieter ground. Somewhere that isn't protected by anti-apparition wards. The waxing moon illuminates enough of my surroundings that I finally know where I am in this slice of hell I've called home for the last two months. There should be a small hill just ahead, and at the top is a trail used by the stags in the area. If I can slip down the trail I can hopefully watch my hunters as they pass. If I know which ones they are, I'll know how to get past them. Crouching low, I turn sharply left down the trail about 10 yards. I can't go further or they will hear me, and I need to see them. Slowly, I push myself behind a large pine tree. The decades of shedded needles are softened by the evening dew. They muffle the sounds of my feet as I position myself so that just the top of my head is visible to anyone that is following me.

There are three of them. I've seen two of them before- on the day the ministry fell. The blonde is taller than I remembered, but maybe that was just due to the confidence I had in the beginning. Now, left on my own, everything seems bigger and scarier. They continue in the direction I was originally going and I take a second to let out the breath I was holding and my body sags into the mighty pine that has protected me these last few moments.

Just as I took my second calming breath I hear a branch snap behind me. It was too thick a branch to be cracked by something small like a rabbit or a fox. It was large, it was breathing, and it was getting closer. I closed my eyes and held my breath, willing whatever it was to just keep walking past. Then it did, and I saw him. Antonin Dolohov was crouched down, sneaking down the same game trail I was on. His old eyes must not be as adept at night, because he just walked right by me. I need to sneak around the other side of the tree, but just as I moved my left foot I felt the undeniable snap of a long hidden branch under the layer of pine needles.

His head whips around so fast that it takes me a moment to register that I am looking directly into his jet black eyes. My heart stops- then starts pounding in my chest so hard the entire forest likely hears it. He found me.

"Look what we have here. A scared little mudblood all alone. What should I do with you, my little krolik." He stalked closer; there is nowhere for me to go. He is no doubt faster than me, so this close there is no way I can outrun him. My only recourse is to try and throw him off and maybe tangle him up so I can get to a safer place. Somewhere I can use that awful woman's horrible wand and disapperate. I wait until he is only a few feet away, then I lunge at his stomach with my shoulder. Using a stunning curse on his legs, he topples backwards.

Scrambling to my feet I begin running further down the trail. Pulling my head up a second too late, I am not able to dodge the large man standing in my path. There, in the middle of the trail was the other half of the duo I Obliviated the night of Fleur and Bill's wedding. "The Gryffindor Princess. At last, we meet again." His eyes are paler than Dolohov's, but just as terrifying. I back away, forgetting about the wizard I had just stunned behind me. My heel caught the older wizards robes and I land hard on my backside. My elbows buckle as I try to push myself up. The wand I hate using flew out of my hand in my fall and lands foot out of my reach.

Time slows as Thorfinn leans over me. He puts one large hand over my mouth, and the other he wraps almost all the way around my throat. "I'm going to enjoy watching you die, witch." He pushes me down until I am flat on the ground. My eyes remain glued to his.

"No!" I shout again, and again. But no one can hear me through his meaty hand. I try to pry his fingers from my neck, but to no avail. He is too strong. I try thrashing my body, and I rake my nails down every inch of skin I can get my hands on. Nothing is working. Already, I can see the edges of my vision fading into black. I kick and try to roll away, tears falling from my eyes without my permission. His hand keeps squeezing my neck. I am dying. I am never going to see the end of this war. I will not wake up tangled in the arms of a lover. My womb will not grow with a new life. I will not pass my thirst for knowledge to another generation. My struggles become weaker, but I refuse to look away. If this horrible man is going to steal all that away from me, I will stare him in the eye as he does it. I will be the vision that haunts his nightmares.

The world is almost entirely black when I hear a grunt behind me. Then, nothing.


End file.
